In retail environments, products that are to be purchased are generally placed directly on the shelves so that a guest can place the products in their cart or basket and take them to a checkout counter for purchase. However, in some locations, regulations require retailers to obtain identifying information about a guest before giving the guest access to certain products. For example, in some locations, products containing ephedrine must be kept behind a counter and can only be given to the guest after the guest furnishes an identification card.
To accommodate these regulations, retailers removed ephedrine-containing products from their shelves and put a card holder in place of the products. Each card holder includes a stack of cards that depicts the product that has been removed and instructs the guest to take the card to a pharmacy counter to obtain the desired product.
This card holder technique has also been used for some products that are kept behind the pharmacy counter to reduce theft of the items. The cards let guests know that the retailer has the item and how to purchase the item while reducing the likelihood that the item will be stolen.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.